A-CLASS NORTH AMERICANS ANNOUNCEMENT

The 2003 North American Championship for the A-Class catamaran will be held November 11-14, 2003 at the Pontchartrain Yacht Club in Mandeville, LA. Pontchartrain Yacht Club is located on the beautiful north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Mandeville, LA. Competitors will get the opportunity to enjoy an historic and quaint lakefront setting lined with beautiful historic homes, restaurants, pubs, and coffee houses. The competitors will be challenged with weather conditions in November that can still offer warm east-southeast sea breezes or cool brisk offshore winds with the first cold fronts of the fall season.

The A-Class catamaran is the highest performance single-handed sailboat in the world. Typically built of high tech materials that include carbon fiber and kevlar, the boat has an overall length of 18’, total beam (width) of 7’6”, sail area of 150 ft2, and a minimum weight of only 165 lbs the boat is capable of over 20 knots of boatspeed in ideal conditions. The ranks of North American A-class sailors are filled with national, North American, and Olympic champions making the racing extremely exciting and competitive.

Some of the competitor’s who will be racing in November include:

Ben Hall – Current US class secretary and past A-Class North American Champion. Ben is from Bristol, RI and is a co-owner of HALL SPARS. Ben’s company builds some of the most high tech carbon fiber spars for many “cutting edge” sailboats in the world today. HALL SPARS most recent accomplishment was to build all of the carbon fiber masts, booms, and spinnaker poles for recent 2003 America’s Cup champion ALINGHI from Switzerland.

Randy Smyth – Probably no sailor in the world has won more championships in multihull sailing than Randy Smyth. Randy is a past national, North American, and World Champion in the Tornado class which is currently raced in the Olympics. Randy was the silver medalist in the Tornado class in the 1984 Olympics and silver medalist again in the 1992 Olympics. In addition, Randy recently sailed aboard TEAM ADVENTURE in the non-stop circumnavigation race called THE RACE. He has also won several times the challenging WORRELL 1000 long distance race that has been covered in national magazines and on television.

Pete Melvin – Pete is a former Tornado Olympian (1988) and is a past North American and World Champion in the A-Class. As a teenager, Pete won the IYRU Youth Double-handed World Championship. Pete is a partner with Gino Morelli and their Newport Beach, CA based Melvin-Morelli Yacht Design has produced many famous sailboat designs including adventurer Steve Fossett’s massive catamaran PLAYSTATION which currently holds several transatlantic speed records.

Jay Glaser – Jay is a former silver medalist in the Tornado class (1984 with Randy Smyth) and has also won national, North American, and World championships in the Tornado class. Jay was also the 2000 North American Champion in the A-Class. Jay is highly desired for his coaching skills and was recognized as Coach of the Year by the United States Olympic Yachting Committee for his work with US Olympic sailors at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Pease Glaser – Pease is one of the most accomplished female sailors in the United States. She has been an Intercollegiate All American and won the Tornado North American and National Championships with her husband Jay. She won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the 470 class with teammate J.J. Isler and was further honored with her 470 teammate as the 2000 ROLEX Yachtswoman of the Year.

Charlie Ogeltree – Charlie is a two-time Olympian (1996 and 2000) in the Tornado Class, former Melges 24 National Champion, and former Intercollegiate All American. Charlie was the top American finisher (4th) at the 2002 A-Class World Championship.

Goran Marstrom – Goran is from Sweden and his company SAILCENTER OF SWEDEN builds nearly all of the racing Tornados in the world today. Goran is former bronze medalist in the Tornado class in the 1980 Olympics.

Johnny Lovell – Johnny is also a two-time Olympian in the Tornado class (with Charlie Ogeltree in 1996 and 2000) and is a past national and North American champion in the Tornado class. This will be his first A-Class North American championship.

This depth of talent will make this year’s event one of the most exciting in class history in North America. 2003 is an important year for US A-Class sailors. There is the prospect of new technology for the A-Class being developed over the summer in the United States. This exciting development could make competitive and affordable platforms available to US sailors in the next 12-18 months (new equipment at this time comes from Europe or Australia). For more information about the A-Class and this event, visit www.usaca.info.